Room Mates
by Lancelotlaureate
Summary: Barbara has to share a room with Ian in the TARDIS


"Doctor, why is mine and Susan's room covered in god-knows-what?" Barbara asked as she carried her cardigan and shoes into the main console room.

The Doctor looked up briefly from his work at the console. "Hmm? Oh did I forget to mention, the room was a hazard- needs repairs at once. Susan has moved to a smaller room so perhaps you could share with Chesterton for a night or two? I know it's an inconvenience but it can't be helped."

Barbara sighed. "Well it wasn't exactly convenient ending up in time and space at all so I'm sure we'll work something out."

The Doctor stared hard at her and for a split second she thought he was about to apologise to her for having kidnapped them and thrust them into a life so full of danger, but of course he merely shook his head and turned away mumbling something about helping Susan move some boxes.

She watched him leave and then she made the rather hazardous trip into her room to fetch a few things that she could take into her temporary bedroom. They'd not been on the TARDIS long so she barely owned anything of her own but she'd been given a few comforts by Susan like nightwear and shampoos (though maintaining her hairdo had been quite a task what with the lack of facilities and products) to help her along.

Ian was sitting on his bed reading a newspaper when she entered. He looked up briefly when he saw her, smiled and then resumed his reading. She smiled thoughtfully to herself for a moment- seeing Ian reading a newspaper on the bed reminded her of her father.

"Don't mind me," Barbara said putting down her things onto the other bed. "Did the Doctor tell you?"

Ian looked at her over the top of his paper. "Tell me what?"

"Ah so you don't know," she said as she gestured to the belongings she'd brought into the room.

"Oh, bunking together are we?"

Barbara smirked at his turn of phrase. "Something like that. You don't mind do you? The Doctor's got my room in a terrible mess, looks like a bomb's gone off…although it's not much better in here."

"Sorry," Ian said. "Not had much time to tidy up what with the long trip across the desert."

"We have been rather busy." Barbara started picking up Ian's clothes from the floor, scooping them up into a pile for the laundry. "Isn't it confusing reading a newspaper on a time machine? Whatever date is it from?"

Ian chuckled and put down the paper. "It's 1963, a few days after we left. Apparently we missed some pretty big news." He held the front cover up so she could see the headline properly.

"Kennedy assassinated? Well there must be some mistake," Barbara said, her voice trembling at the news of the tragedy.

"Afraid its no mistake, Barbara. I asked the Doctor, he confirmed the news. He's got a whole stack of papers of all events in that cupboard in the hall. He's forbidden me to look past 1963. It's just awful. You know my first thought was to ring my mother and then I realised she'd be ringing me to ask if I'd heard and I won't be there to comfort her."

He fell quiet for a moment as his hands began to scrunch the paper up into a ball.

"They say you always remember where you were when something big and terrible happens," she said. "We can hardly say we were in a spaceship at the time."

Ian laughed softly. "No, we can't much do that."

Barbara, trying to forget about the news of Kennedy and their present situation, carried on picking up unwanted garments from around the room. When she picked up a pair of Ian's briefs she froze in embarrassment. "Oh dear."

Ian leapt up and snatched them away from her. "Barbara, a man's drawers are his own private affair."

"Sorry."

"Listen, why don't you stop tidying and we can get ready for bed, its getting late."

"How do you know that?"

"I don't, I'm just dog tired."

Barbara placed the neat pile of clothes onto the side table and looked around the room. "There's no place for me to slip into my night clothes."

Ian smiled and then placed his hands over his eyes. "Problem solved, off you go."

She laughed. "Oh Ian, you better not peak."

"I'm a perfect gentleman if you must know, but if it'll make you feel better I'll get changed in the hallway, don't be too long though."

Barbara watched him leave and then quickly slipped off her battle dress outfit and put on a nice comfy pair of purple silk pyjamas that Susan had chosen for her out of the TARDIS wardrobe.

When Ian returned, she grinned at the sight of him in his vest and striped pyjama bottoms.

"What are you laughing at?"

She giggled. "I'm still not used to seeing you in pyjamas."

"What about that school trip when we took the kids camping?"

"We never saw each other in any state of undress, thank you Mr. Chesterton."

"I wonder what camping trip I'm thinking of then," he replied with a twinkle of mischief in his eye. "Anyway, toothy-pegs, got your brush Barbara?"

Barbara grabbed her red toothbrush from her handbag and followed Ian into the adjoining bathroom.

"I suppose this toothpaste will do," Ian said staring at the strange tube of luminous mint toothpaste as they both stood by the sink, their feet accidentally touching in the lack of space. "I hope it's not radioactive."

"It'd be very stupid to put it in the bathroom if it was."

Barbara squeezed two perfect pea sized blobs of toothpaste onto hers and Ian's brushes and it was hard for her not to laugh as they both started to brush their teeth in rhythm, their elbows clashing against one another as they struggled to see clearly in the one small mirror.

"Looks a bit silly doesn't it?" Ian said as toothpaste flew from his mouth, some hitting the mirror and some dribbling onto his chin.

They clunked heads as they both attempted to spit at the same time.

"Guess I'm not used to sharing a bathroom," he said as he finally managed to spit the contents of the toothpaste into the sink.

Barbara rubbed her head and cleaned her face with a towel before cleaning the mirror as well. "No, I haven't shared with anyone for a while, well with Susan since I've been here, but she's very clean and tidy."

Ian splashed water onto his face and dried himself off with a towel. "And I'm not?"

"Clean maybe, not tidy. Come on, time for bed."

"Yes Colonel." He saluted to her as he followed her back into the bedroom and they both sat down on their respective beds. "It's like being back in the services. Of course we would never have been able to bunk with a woman then."

"No, that wouldn't have been quite within the rules I expect."

"We'd have liked it though. The men would have liked sharing a room with you Barbara."

"Would they indeed?"

"Oh I didn't mean anything improper. I'll just change the subject, bed's comfy." He climbed inside his bed cover and lay back upon the pillow, stretching his arms behind his head. "That's the stuff."

Barbara lay down on her bed, on the side of her body, facing him. She got inside the covers and wrapped herself up snug and tight like a mouse inside its straw bedding.

"Oh I don't think I can sleep," she said as she fidgeted for a few moments, thrashing about wildly under the covers.

"It's only been a couple of minutes Barbara."

"It's that constant humming."

"Well you've slept on the TARDIS before, how did you ignore it then?"

"It's louder here. Oh it makes me feel quite queasy, like being next door to a concert and hearing that sort of vibration in the floor."

Ian shuffled onto his side, his eyes closed as he did so. "Try to ignore it."

Silence.

"Oh its no good, it's distracting."

Ian's eyes opened in annoyance. "Really it's distracting? I have no idea what that must be like when you're trying to sleep."

Barbara scowled at him. "Just because you sleep as soon as head hits the pillow, doesn't mean we're all that lucky."

"It does normally and yet…"

She groaned and spun away from him with irritation. "See this is why I share with Susan. If I can't sleep in there, Susan will talk to me. If Susan has worries then I will also wake up to make sure she's alright."

He sat up groggily and sighed. "I'm sorry. Do you want to talk about it?"

She turned back around to face him. "Just for a few minutes could help."

Ian sighed and turned the light on before making himself comfortable in a sitting up position. "It is strange isn't it?"

"What?"

"Being here in the TARDIS. Sometimes I wake up and I think I'm back in my own bed, but then I hear that humming and realise it wasn't all just a dream and I can't click my heels three times and go home."

Barbara looked over to him and watched him for a moment. It was strange to her to that they'd become so close over the time they'd spent with the Doctor, oh she'd always been fond of Ian, had thought him a good friend and colleague, but nothing had quite prepared her for quite the level of closeness they'd shared over the weeks. She certainly never expected to be sharing a bedroom with him. What would her mother say if she could see her now?

Ian rubbed his chin. "Still the Doctor has got some nifty gadgets onboard that come in handy. There's all sorts of cleaning devices, and the razors are a lot easier than the one I use at home. Also, there isn't my landlady Mrs. Russell hoovering around my ankles when I'm preparing my lesson plan."

She laughed gently. "Oh there's definitely some advantages to travelling with the Doctor. I always wanted to see China. I'm not sure I'd have picked the 13th century but beggars can't be choosers."

"Free holiday I suppose. I wonder if Coal Hill will replace us, send in two strict supply teachers in our places and see if they're better than us."

"Well that all depends on whether any time has actually passed. It's all so confusing. If the Doctor got us home to the day we left then there'd be no need to replace us."

"If he gets us home tomorrow on time then I'm going to have a tough time explaining this tan." He laughed.

Barbara smiled and rested her head gently on the pillow, letting out a big yawn as her eyes opened and closed repeatedly. "I'm awfully tired."

Ian ignored her and laughed again. "It's funny. Every day at Coal Hill, same old life, same old routine and it used to get to me sometimes. Now I just think I'd be so happy to see its old crumbling brick again."

"Yes, and those gloomy corridors, and that little canteen with the all the tables and chairs in a row, and the staff room. I miss the staff room if only for your banter with Mr. Adams about which football team is better."

Ian laughed loudly. "Well if the man will support West Ham."

Barbara let out another yawn as she struggled to keep her eyes open. "We'll get back one day I suppose. For now we'll have to be thankful for some of the things we've seen. I mean, Kublai Khan's palace and an alien world…well our lives will never be the same."

Ian stared at the ceiling and sighed. "We are no longer the same two Coal Hill schoolteachers who wandered into that junkyard. Well that wasn't exactly the evening I had planned, you know Barbara…"

She stirred, half asleep, but half listening to him. "What do you mean?"

"I was going to ask you to the pub for a drink after our Susan spying session. I'm not sure if you'd have said yes, I know you don't much like the pub and teachers socialising together out of work but I really did think we'd have a good time. I wanted to get to know you better I suppose. Well, now it seems as though I got my wish in an entirely different way."

He looked over to her and noticed she had fallen asleep completely. Little snores escaped her as her blanket moved up and down gently with each little grunt. Ian smiled and laughed to himself. Had she heard anything he had just said? He shook his head in disbelief and then climbed off his bed and pulled her blanket over the top of her body, wrapping her up tightly so that she didn't get too cold. He looked at her for a few moments, and then quite unexpectedly kissed her on the top of the head.

"Goodnight Barbara," he said softly, almost whispering. "It's been nice getting to know you."

He tiptoed to his own bed and turned out the light before snuggling up under his covers and dreaming away until morning.


End file.
